I'm posting for my sister who doesn't have a PnM in her life. She is in her early 40s but almost completely grey. She has been dying her hair at the salon every 4 weeks but says it is really expensive and she gets these "zebra stripes" in between but doesn't know what to do.

I'm still at the find a few and pluck them stage, but I know it's coming... because there are more and more of them lol.

Is coloring at home a good option? She said she has also heard about a pen that can be used at home to cover roots between colorings? Those of you dealing with greys, what do you do?

I haven't ever colored my hair, which is increasingly grey. For me, it is a level of cost and maintenance that I am not willing to undertake. I look forward to the day when I have the gorgeous white hair my granddad had and my mom now has. In the meantime, I take encouragement from the parish member who tells me every.single.Sunday. that my hair reflects beautifully under the lights!

I'm not colouring my hair either - I can barely manage to keep up on haircuts (twice a year is keeping up, right?) - I know I would never manage to stay on top of hair colour. DH doesn't like the idea of hair colour either so that's an additional reason.

I'm hoping I'll end up with the beautiful white hair that my gran and great-Aunt Marguerite had but odds are I'll get the steel wool grey mum and granny have/had instead. Right now my ever-increasing grey hairs seem to be white so I'm remaining hopeful

I am another who doesn't use color, but it wasn't by choice - allergies. That said, I'm often told how beautiful my hair is. In the beginning, Brian even comment on how neat my hair was looking - like I had highlights. I am blessed, truly, and so pleased to not be tied to my hairdresser.

I'm another one who doesn't color my hair. My hair grows very fast and I keep it pretty short - I spend enough on cuts every 5 weeks, if I had to color it too, I'd go broke. Like Wanda, mine is greying in a 'highlighted' sort of way and I think it looks just fine.

I will say though, that we were discussing this at work recently, and only two of ten women don't color our hair. And the other one is at least 10 years younger than me, so she hasn't ruled it out yet.

cathie wrote:So many natural ladies! I'm not sure I have the guts to go grey... at least until I'm older.

I'm not sure it takes guts...for me, it's somewhere between laziness and penny-pinching The only time I really think about it is when someone brings up the topic or very occasionally when I look at a picture; the rest of the time it just is.

No guts here, either. There just wasn't a choice because of my allergies. I would blister and get eczema which hung around until I had roots. No way!! I really was fortunate that my grey came in nicely. I do like it.

cathie wrote:So many natural ladies! I'm not sure I have the guts to go grey... at least until I'm older.

I'm not sure it takes guts...for me, it's somewhere between laziness and penny-pinching The only time I really think about it is when someone brings up the topic or very occasionally when I look at a picture; the rest of the time it just is.

cathie wrote:So many natural ladies! I'm not sure I have the guts to go grey... at least until I'm older.

I'm not sure it takes guts...for me, it's somewhere between laziness and penny-pinching The only time I really think about it is when someone brings up the topic or very occasionally when I look at a picture; the rest of the time it just is.

See for me it isn't laziness - or even really the money (which as I said would be substantial!), but rather I don't care. It doesn't bother me that my hair is going grey. At the same time I can't imagine having plastic surgery, or even spending one thin dime on botox or derm abrasions or any of the rest of it.

Which isn't to say that I don't care about my appearance, it's just that I don't mind that I'm aging in a typical fashion. I'm 53 years old and you'd probably guess I was about 53 years old - and that's ok with me!

I guess I'm the odd duck this time. I didn't used to care and wasn't worried about it but one day I let a friend - who is a hair dresser - talk me into coloring it. The difference in how customers treat me and the response I get in a professional situation was very enlightening for me. While I'm not out to go get plastic surgery, I do maintain my color about every 2 months (from a box). Someday I would love to be out of a profession where grey looks "good" on men but is NOT tolerated in women.

Maelyn - that is a sad indictment on society - and your profession in general. Not surprising but sad...

Sue - truthfully I really don't care either. Greying hair is the least of my flaws...and at least for now, I'm more likely to be mistaken as younger not older than my actual age...I've lost track of the number of times someone has mistaken me for Simon's sister or wife and been shocked to have me identified as his mum. [on the other hand, so as not to overinflate my ego, I've also been assumed to be Annabelle's grandmother - but since I'm the age of most of her friend's grandmothers...that isn't unexpected]

I'm lucky - at 50 I have only a few gray hairs. And when I think about it, I pull them out. But I really don't care when/if I go gray. Though I don't think I much will. At 75 my dad still has only a little gray hair and I think I inherited his and not my mom's hair (who is really gray).

that said - I"m too cheap and lazy as well do color my hair. I'm lucky to even cut it every 2-3 months!

For much the same reason as Maelyn, I do color my hair. I use a box color (with coupons) every 4 weeks. I even highlighted my own hair a few months back and my hairdresser said I did a good job. I go to the salon for a cut about every 2-3 months. As soon as I retire (in three years God willing) I will go natural. I have noticed though that grey is becoming fashionable. Even young girls are coloring their hair grey. It looks really pretty on so many women.

Lucky Mom to Brett [12/6/93] and Sean [11/1/99]

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; It's whether we provide enough for those who have too little." FDR

I color my hair. I started going gray before I was 30 and I just couldn't hack that! I have kept it up ever since and have no plans of stopping, at least for years and years. I get my hair colored every 6 weeks at the salon, but it is getting to the point where I need to bump that to every 5. I am going to try coloring myself this summer but I haven't had the courage to try yet. I am too worried about ending up with some funky shade!

Like Tisha, I started getting gray hairs when I was pretty young--late 20s! Granted, they were just here and there then. I've been coloring regularly since my mid-30s.

I have had my hair colored at the salon, but I find that with straight color (no highlights) it's just as easy (and much cheaper) to do at home. I'm fortunate in that my stylist has given me lots of tips, both pointing me towards (and away from) certain products and advising me on technique. I use Natural Instincts, because it lacks the harsher chemicals in permanent dyes. A little-known secret is that even so-called "wash-out" colorants are essentially permanent for many people--in that using them permanently changes your hair color, especially if you color regularly. The intensity may fade a bit over time, but it will never truly wash out. I find that just doing my roots is enough to maintain the color without it looking darker on the ends. It took me a short time to find the right color match, but I pretty much have it down to a science now.

Also like Tisha, I am finding that I need touch-ups more often now that the gray is coming in with more gusto. I'm a five-week girl myself.

The one thing that I wouldn't do at home is highlights. I defer to my stylist for that, although I find it less practical now that I must color so regularly to keep the gray away. I might have that done as a special treat for the summer. The lighter shades do camouflage the gray a bit, so I can get away with waiting to color a bit longer with highlights.

Being a gal of autumn coloring, though, I don't think I would look as good with it as a summer or winter person.

It's funny, I have always said that I would never have plastic surgery to look younger. I'm sticking to that. I'm proud of my age (43 this month!), but this is the one thing that I have held onto as I've gotten older. Not sure I will let it go completely gray until I'm much older, but I will probably go a few shades lighter (maybe more light brown than red) as I move into my 50s. Darker shades age most people.

When I was a teenager, I used to color for fun sometimes... I remember my mother saying, "You won't find it so enjoyable when you have to do it." She was so right about that. Now it's definitely a chore.

I am coloring my hair. And yes, it costs a fortune (by my standards). I was doing it myself, but my MIL told me I take too few indulgences, so why not make this one? And so I have. I only color every 8 weeks (and my temples look awful by then). She has lightened my hair a few shades and it does look better.